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Weird Gadgets from the 1920's

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 14:31:58 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

TOE SOCKS

These pre-shrunk 'To Sox' were designed to act as toe protectors. Produced during World War II, it was claimed that they could reduce hosiery costs by up to 80 per cent. They were designed to be worn over the big toes, to protect socks from wear.

LIGHT SPECTACLES

Invented in the U.S. in the 1930s, these specs were adorned with two small, battery-powered lights, with a long wire trailing beneath. The experience was marred only by the likelihood of electrocution when it rained.

MOUSTACHE PROTECTOR

designed with a hole for the mustachioed man to sip through.

FINGER STRETCHER FOR PIANISTS

Developed in America in 1910 to help pianists hit the sprawling notes demanded by the likes of Stravinsky and Debussy. Careful use was required: it is thought the composer Schumann destroyed his hands using an early version.

PAGE TURNER

CLOCKWORK TEASMADE

AN EARLY LAVATORY

PEEP SHOW

CIGARETTE HOLDER

PISTOL PURSE

a tiny machine complete with its own map that would tell motorists which way to go.

Tags: weird, funny, bizarre, humour, idiots

A Study of Women Inventors, Part 1

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 02:10:48 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: The social appeal for women to become inventors at that time was best expressed when Scientific American tried to assure them “that there was nothing inherently unladylike about the process of invention. Like novel writing, it could be done in the parlor at home, and did not require traffic in the factory or marketplace.”

Follow to Part 2

Clip Source: www.futuristspeaker.com

What name springs to mind when you say the phrase “famous female inventor?” If you’re having a tough time answering this, you are not alone.

In 1980 only 1.7% of all the patent filings were filed by women.

The first U.S. patent was issued in 1809 to Mary Dixon Kies, a Connecticut native who invented a process for weaving straw with silk or thread. First Lady Dolley Madison publicly thanked her for boosting the nation’s hat industry.

Until about 1840, only 20 other patents were issued to women

During the next decade, from 1865 to 1875 the number of women-issued patents increased to 67.3 compared to men’s 11,918.4 patents.

A rare exception to the social norm in 1843, Ada Lovelace wrote a scientific paper that anticipated the development of computer software, artificial intelligence and computer music.

Profits were part of the motivation for Beulah Henry of Memphis who created about 110 inventions and held 49 patents. Beulah Henry was considered one of the “Lady Edisons”

Tags: femal inventors

When General Motors Was Dreaming ...

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 05:48:38 GMT

clipped by: einbar

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

When General Motors Was Dreaming

In its heyday during the 1950s, Motorama delivered G.M.'s message of postwar optimism to millions of curious spectators. The 1938 Buick Y-Job was the first such dream car.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The 1951 LeSabre, with its tail fins and lightweight components, shows the influence of jet plane styling.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The 1956 Buick Centurion was the first car designed by Chuck Jordan, who would later become G.M.'s styling chief.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The Cadillac Cyclone was first shown in 1959.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

In 1950, G.M. borrowed the name of its permanent Chicago Museum of Science and Industry exhibit to rechristen its New York fashion show the Midcentury Motorama.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Unfettered by concerns over the cars’ production feasibility, designers toyed with extravagant shapes, exotic propulsion systems and impractical gimmicks. Seen here is the Futurliner from 1953.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The best ideas graduated to production models, while the turbine engines and titanium body panels never made it past the pages of Popular Science.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Commanding Firefox makes complex tasks easier

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:52:52 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: Sounds useful

Clip Source: www.technologyreview.com

The beauty of today's search engines is their simplicity. Type a few keywords into an empty box, and see the 10 most relevant results.

This week, Mozilla Labs expects to launch a similar interface for its Firefox Web browser. The new interface, called Ubiquity, lets users carry out all sorts of complex tasks simply by typing instructions, in the form of ordinary sentences, into a box in the browser.

For example, to e-mail a paragraph or picture from a Technology Review article to a friend using Ubiquity, simply select the text or image, press a keyboard shortcut to reveal an input box, and type "e-mail to Max."

The idea, says Beard, is to make it easier to find and share information on the Web while avoiding cumbersome copy-and-paste instructions.

Ubiquity aims to eliminate both tiresome mouse movements and the need for multiple browser plug-ins.

The project is being released in an early form--version 0.1--so it's not expected to work perfectly straightaway.

Tags: firefox, browser productivity